The Word of God Written in Our Heart

 “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Solomon’s wisdom says, “Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.”  Jesus spoke about certain people who spoke many words and cautioned them from talking with many words.  People who talk a lot don’t achieve much.  Many think that making long prayers is pleasing to God.  But Jesus taught that when you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. In fact Jesus called such people hypocrites.  Within earshot of all the people, Jesus warned His disciples, “Don’t follow the example of these pretentious experts of the law! They love to parade around in their religious garments so that people honor them wherever they go. They like to sit right up front in every meeting and push their way to the head table at every banquet. And for an offering they will pray long religious prayers at the homes of widows, cheating them out of their very livelihood. Beware of them all, because one day the Judge will strip them of honor, and judge them severely.”  In the ‘guru’ culture that we live in, it is better to heed the words of Jesus.  Let’s not just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let His Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by our life!  Amen!

The Living Well Gives His Living Water

 “Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)”

‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

John the beloved disciple writes, “Wearied by His long journey, He sat on the edge of Jacob’s well, and sent His disciples into the village to buy food, for it was already afternoon. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”  The well was a “spring-fed well”.  This becomes a picture of the “spring” of the Jacob-life inside of every one of us.  Fed by Adam’s fall, this spring has flowed through all of humanity.  But Jesus sat as a “lid” to Jacob’s well, sealing its polluted stream.  In Christ, Jacob’s clever striving has ended.  The Living Well became a lid to Jacob’s well as Jesus sat there ready to give His Living Water to all who would come and drink.  A Well sitting upon a well.  The “water” Jesus wanted was the refreshing, satisfying pleasure of her devotion.  He says to each of us, “Nothing satisfies Me except you.”  The sinner drank of the Saviour and the Saviour drank of the sinner and both were satisfied.  Neither ate or drank, but both were satisfied.  Therefore with joy we will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day we will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted.  Amen!

The Church, the Gospel and the Kingdom of God

 “So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Solomon’s wisdom says, “Again, I observed all the oppression that takes place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and their victims are helpless.”  When we see nations where poverty is continuing for generations and led by oppressive governments and politicians, our hearts are cut with compassion.  This is why the Church was born two thousand years ago, when our God rose victorious from the dead and sent His Holy Spirit to empower the Church.  The Church is here to bring the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.  The Church has the Gospel for the Spirit of the Lord God has taken control of all those who believe the Word.  The Lord has chosen and sent us to tell the oppressed the Gospel, to heal the brokenhearted, and to announce freedom for prisoners who are captive to wrong beliefs; to console those who mourn, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.  May the true Church recognise the responsibility God has placed on us to bring the Gospel to all, for God loves all mankind.  Amen!

Seated with Christ in Heavenly Places

 “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.even”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭13‬ ‭KJV‬‬

As John the beloved disciple recorded Jesus’s words, “No one has risen into the heavenly realm except the Son of Man Who also exists in heaven.”  Jesus shares a mystery with Nicodemus.  While He was on earth ministering, Jesus was also in heaven in the spirit realm.  Being in the two places at the same time is also the privilege given to every believer.  We are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm and living our earthly life to please Him.  This is what it means to be “in Christ”.  He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.  “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory”, Paul writes.  In the realm of the Spirit, heaven and earth is one.  Jesus is telling Nicodemus that only those who are seated in the heavenly realm will understand spiritual truths.  May we understand the depth of what Jesus tells us personally through His Word.  Amen!

God’s Seaon, God’s Time, God’s Purpose

 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Solomon’s wisdom says, “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”  Paul said when he preached at Athens that “God had made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;” God’s plans and seasons are appointed, for He had appointed for His Son to come in the flesh at the right time.  At God’s right season, the Word was sowed into this planet and the Gospel preached.  At the appointed time God judged Jesus on the Cross and Jesus conquered death through His resurrection and opened the way for mankind to have the opportunity to be born again by the Spirit into a new life in Christ.  Now at His appointed season He has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to all His disciples by the command of God our Saviour this wonderful Gospel.  This is the purpose of God, to restore humanity to His image and likeness which was lost by Adam and bring His family back to Himself through the power of His love.  Thank You Father!

Faith in Christ’s Resurrection Makes Our Body His Temple

 “But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.”

‭‭John‬ ‭2‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‭KJV‬‬

John, the beloved disciple wrote, “But they failed to understand that Jesus was speaking of the “temple” of His body. The disciples remembered His prophecy after Jesus rose from the dead, and believed both the Scripture and what Jesus had said.”  Resurrection power would be the sign of Jesus’s supreme authority.  Jesus’s death and resurrection effectively dismantled the need for the temple, for now His powerful Gospel of the Kingdom of God builds us into a holy temple not made with hands.  As Paul said, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”  This symbolic form of speaking was so different from the teachings of the Pharisees, as it is to the understanding of many Christians today.  The God Who was once worshipped by animal sacrifices is now to be worshipped in spirit and truth with every believer as a priest. Have you forgotten that your body is now the sacred temple of the Spirit of Holiness, Who lives in you? You don’t belong to yourself any longer, for the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, lives inside your sanctuary. You were God’s expensive purchase, paid for with tears of blood, so by all means, then, use your body to bring glory to God!  God had chosen us to serve our God and formed us into a kingdom of priests who reign on the earth.  Amen!

This Life is Brief in the Light of Eternity

 “I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Solomon’s wisdom says, “I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. And while still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.”  Solomon concluded that pleasure and the good things of life, our comfort zones, comedy and cheering oneself with wine and liquor are all vanity and meaningless.  The God Who has created everything has not made it for vanity or meaninglessness.  He has given Life with a purpose.  When mankind lost that purpose through sin, God sent His Son to redeem mankind so we would get the purpose back.  That is why Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.”  What is our purpose then?  As Jesus said, “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Let’s do our purpose which is to be part of God’s Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven; and doing His on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen!

Crossing Into New Life

 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

‭‭John‬ ‭1‬:‭29‬ ‭KJV‬‬

John the beloved disciple recorded, “The very next day, John saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized, and John cried out, “Look! There He is—God’s Lamb! He takes away the sin of the entire world!” This was the place chosen by God for John to baptise Jesus as thousands of years ago the children of Israel crossed into the promised land when the Jordan River parted and they passed through on dry land.  This is a powerful reminder of crossing into the new life.  As the Lamb of God, Jesus was publicly washed and proven to be without flaw or blemish, ready to become the sacrifice for all the world.  Although He would rise as the Lion of Judah in resurrection power, here He is the meek Lamb, a willing sacrifice for us as He broke sin’s grip from humanity, taking away its guilt and power from those who believe.  We join with those singing with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  Amen!

The Spirit of Wisdom

 “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Solomon, the king of Israel wrote, “I devoted myself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. I soon discovered that God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race. I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless—like chasing the wind.”  This king was given wisdom and understanding to manage his affairs of this world, it was the natural wisdom and understanding he got.  He was much admired and felicitated by rulers of other nations.  Solomon came to the conclusion that it was all meaningless.  Depending on worldly wisdom was a tragic existence for mankind because it takes one away from God.  That was Solomon’s life for in his old age, his many wives turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, and broke the covenant with God.  But thanks be to God that through the Blood sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, the new covenant came into being and the Holy Spirit was poured out on all believers, the Spirit of Wisdom.  This supernatural wisdom now enables all believers to know that friendship with the world is enmity with God.  Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Worldly wisdom is friendship with the world. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.  Let’s surrender to the Holy Spirit and walk in wisdom from above.  Amen!

To Know Jesus is to Know the Word Personally

 “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭27‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Dr. Luke records, “And beginning with Moses and all the prophets He carefully unveiled to them the revelation of Himself throughout the Scriptures.”  Jesus, risen from the dead, was walking alongside two disciples and they weren’t aware of Who was walking next to them.  The disciples were astounded at what Jesus taught them.  A similar story was of Jesus as a young boy talking with Jewish scholars at the temple and they were astounded as to how a young boy could have such wisdom.  This is because in the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him.  The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father’s One and Only Son.  To know Jesus is to know the Word personally.  Let the Word be our inspiration, motivation and action.  Let’s be doers of the Word.  Amen!